In the personnel office, I sat across a wide desk from an attractive woman who was interviewing me for a job. She looked about my age, mid-twenties, and I wondered how she had gotten her job. It sounded okay, hiring people to do a job rather than having to do the job yourself.

            She looked bored, yawned actually, and she finally came to the question I’d heard so many times before during this job hunting process.

            “What is a weakness of yours that might also be a strength?” she asked.

            I’d prepared a smart-ass answer, an answer I would only give if I knew I wasn’t getting the job anyway, but I didn’t have the nerve to say it now, even though I already knew I wasn’t getting the job. I suppose my answer came off as smart-ass after all, but at least it was honest.

“I have no idea,” I said. “I don’t want to bullshit you.”

            She gave a mild chuckle. “I appreciate that. People have been bullshitting me all day.”

            “Will it help me get the job?”

            She sighed. “No. We need bullshitters in this job. It’s a bullshit company. You don’t want to work here.”

            I stood up. “Do you want to hear the answer I was really preparing? Since I’m not getting the job anyway.”

            “No, really, I’ve heard them all.”

            “You haven’t heard this one.”

            She put her hands on her hips. “Okay. Go ahead. Try me.”

            So I told her. Her mouth opened slightly. Her face flushed. Then she laughed. “Well, you’re right,” she said. “I haven’t heard that one before. But it certainly won’t help you get a job.” 

            I went out to my car in the parking lot, looking at my list of the next places to try. But I knew I was doomed if I didn’t come up with a good answer to the question.